"Great Teacher Onizuka" Returns - Takashi Sorimachi to Reprise Onizuka Role After 28 Years

Fuji TV and Kansai TV have announced a new live-action series based on Toru Fujisawa's manga "Great Teacher Onizuka." The premiere is set for July 20, 2026, with Takashi Sorimachi once again playing Eikichi Onizuka, a role he famously portrayed in the iconic 1998 television adaptation.

The new project will be a direct continuation of the original series. The story will transport Onizuka from the Heisei era to the modern Reiwa era. The hero is now 52 years old, and instead of schoolyard brawls with delinquents, he will have to contend with teacher ratings, tablets, internal chats, and an education system obsessed with efficiency and digital control.

Along with Sorimachi, part of the original series' team is returning. Screenwriter Kazuhiko Yukawa, director Satoru Nakajima, and producer Kazuhisa Ando are once again working on the project.